About Jürgen Drescher

Jürgen Drescher first drew attention from the German art world for his work Drescher Bar (1981), in which he installed a functioning bar in a gallery space and called it art. Working primarily in sculpture, Drescher is concerned with probing the tension between original and replica, and between reality and fiction. He recreates everyday found objects—such as benches, banisters, packing boxes, and discarded clothing—by casting them in aluminum, leaving all their wear and tear visible. Working from drawings and sketches, Drescher also produces metal casts of animals, examining humanity’s relationship to the animal world through recreating their bodies. Other practice includes video, text, and performance works that reflect on the artist’s own existence, the art market, and the circulation of goods.